memeorandum: ‘Pull Up Your Pants for Barack Obama’ (Spiegel Online)

1:05 PM ET, September 15, 2010

Top Items:

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:

Castle will not back O'Donnell — A Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) campaign source confirmed to The Hill late Tuesday that the longtime congressman will not be endorsing Christine O'Donnell. — The Tea Party-backed O'Donnell defeated Castle for Delaware's Republican Senate nomination.

Discussion: CNN, TPMDC, Swing State Project, PostPartisan, The Other McCain, The Greenroom, The Atlantic Online, The Politico, Guardian, Right Wing News, Tammy Bruce, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Daily Kos, Weekly Standard, Conservatives4Palin.com, AmSpecBlog, FoxNews.com and Polifrog Blog

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Coons up big — Republicans more than likely cost themselves a Senate seat last night. Chris Coons begins the general election in Delaware with a 50-34 lead over Christine O'Donnell. Mike Castle would have led Coons by a 45-35 margin. — While O'Donnell may have ingratiated herself …

Discussion: The Fix, Ben Smith's Blog, Politics Daily, The Atlantic Online, The Eye, Eunomia, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Matthew Yglesias, The Political Carnival and FrumForum

Jillian Rayfield / TPMDC:

Christine O'Donnell's 1996 Anti-Masturbation Campaign On MTV's ‘Sex In The 90s’ (VIDEO) — Christine O'Donnell won the Republican nomination for senator in Delaware tonight, and Rachel Maddow wasted no time showing the footage she obtained of O'Donnell's 1996 appearance on MTV's “Sex In The 90s” TV show.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Climate Progress, Talking Points Memo, Pharyngula, Feministe, TPMMuckraker, Big Brass Blog, First Draft, FoxNews.com, The Reality-Based Community and FrumForum

Dan Amira / New York Magazine:

GOP's Delaware Senate Nominee Christine O'Donnell Not a Big Fan of Evolution — Christine O'Donnell won't have to lie about this Senate race. She won the Republican nomination for the Senate in Delaware fair and square, against a much more experienced, much more moderate, much more respected opponent …

Discussion: The New Republic, Firedoglake, Little Green Footballs, The Hill, Taegan Goddard's …, National Review, Talking Points Memo and The Political Carnival

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Cornyn embraces O'Donnell — In a clear sign of the grassroots pressure on Republican leaders, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn just put out a statement embracing Christine O'Donnell — a dramatic contrast with his group's curt response last night — and writing her a big check.

Discussion: Hot Air, Little Green Footballs, The Rothenberg Political …, The Greenroom, Weekly Standard, Say Anything and The Right Scoop

Michelle Malkin:

Rove bashes O'Donnell; O'Donnell supporter at victory party strikes back; NRSC cuts and runs; Soros Republican Castle won't back O'Donnell; Update:NRSC flip flops, Rush Limbaugh weighs in: “Balls to the wall” — Scroll for updates... I just finished watching Karl Rove trashing GOP Senate primary winner Christine O'Donnell.

George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:

Christine O'Donnell on Rove's ‘Un-factual’ Remarks and ‘Republican Cannibalism’ — The Republican nominee for the Delaware Senate seat fired back at Karl Rove today for what she called “un-factual” accusations about her record. — “Everything that he is saying is un-factual.

Discussion: The Hill, Think Progress, USA Today, Gawker, American Power, Talking Points Memo, The Agonist, The Nation, TPMDC, Gateway Pundit, The Confluence and The Note

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Soul-searching time: a GOP torn — Christine O'Donnell's surprise victory in the Delaware Senate GOP primary Tuesday left Republicans in conflict, senior party officials openly fretting that the Senate is now out of reach and Democrats overjoyed that the opposition has handed them a late …

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Washington Monthly, The Page, Ben Smith's Blog, ABCNEWS, New York Magazine, The Caucus, Outside the Beltway, Marbury, Oliver Willis, Guardian and The Moderate Voice

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:

Why Mike Castle Lost — Mike Castle might have been a wonderful general election candidate in the Delaware Senate race. But he ran a terrible campaign in the Republican primary, which is why he lost to Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party favorite. — Castle, Delaware's lone congressman, came up short in four separate ways.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and The Page

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

Republicans Reap The Whirlwind — The conservative movement has spent the last 20 months sowing hysteria about President Obama's agenda. The most respectable Republicans call the president a socialist, a radical, a threat to freedom. The less respectable Republicans, many of them highly influential …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, National Review and A plain blog about politics

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Christine O'Donnell upsets Mike Castle in Delaware Senate primary — Marketing consultant Christine O'Donnell defeated Rep. Mike Castle in the tonight. Reuters — Marketing consultant Christine O'Donnell upset Rep. Mike Castle in the O'Donnell, who is making her third run for the Senate …

RushLimbaugh.com:
The Limbaugh Rule: Vote for Most Conservative Candidate in Primary

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel and Power Line

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boehner: Angry voters will turn attention to Dems come November

Discussion: The Politico

Michael O'Brien / The Hill: NRSC backs O'Donnell, donates $42,000

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
GOP nightmare: O'Donnell topples Castle in Delaware primary

Discussion: CNN, Weekly Standard, Think Progress, Hotline On Call, The Confluence, Newshoggers.com, NewsBusters.org, Towleroad News #gay, Ben Smith's Blog, Wonkette and Real Clear Politics

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Quotes of the day — I just finished watching Karl Rove …

Discussion: TPMDC, A Certain Enthusiasm, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Riehl World View and Althouse

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
O'Donnell in 2008: Obama is ‘anti-American’

Discussion: Political Correction RSS, Weasel Zippers, The Atlantic Online and New York Magazine

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Christine O'Donnell gives GOP establishment a thumpin'

Discussion: PoliPundit.com, Instapundit, Althouse, Gateway Pundit and Riehl World View

Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:
Five Reasons O'Donnell Could Win

Discussion: Liberty Pundits Blog and The Daily Caller

First Read / msnbc.com:
First thoughts: The purge inside the GOP

Discussion: GOP 12

Ben Domenech / RedState:
Don't Repeat the Mistakes of the Past

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, JustOneMinute, Riehl World View and Right Wing News

Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
NRSC: No Plans to Fund O'Donnell

Discussion: The Politico, Politics Daily, NRSC, The Note, FiveThirtyEight, The Other McCain, Salon, Blogcritics, Outside the Beltway and Right Klik

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
GOP moans about losing chance to take control of Senate with Castle defeat

Discussion: Fox News, FrumForum, FoxNews.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, Howard Kurtz and TPMDC

David Weigel / Weigel:
Requiem for Mike Castle

Discussion: Esquire, The Daily Dish, Beltway Confidential and The Awl

New York Times:

Paladino Rout of Lazio Jolts New York Republicans — Carl P. Paladino, a Buffalo multimillionaire who jolted the Republican Party with his bluster and belligerence, rode a wave of disgust with Albany to the nomination for governor of New York on Tuesday, toppling Rick A. Lazio …

Discussion: Democracy in America, Right Wing Watch, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville, Mediaite, Ballot Box, The Caucus, Prairie Weather, msnbc.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Matthew Yglesias and The Moderate Voice

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
A Good Primary Season for the GOP

Discussion: National Review

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Bad day for Andrew Cuomo

Discussion: Commentary, Liberty Pundits Blog, New York Magazine and Balloon Juice

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: THE CRAZINESS SPREADS TO NEW YORK'S GOP.... No matter …

Washington Post:

How Adrian Fenty lost his reelection bid for D.C. mayor — One afternoon in late June, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's political advisers invited their boss to a downtown conference room to report an unsettling development: Focus groups commissioned by the campaign were saying that Fenty's leadership style …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, The Atlantic Online, DCist, The New Republic and Achenblog

Washington Post:
Vincent Gray wins D.C. mayor's race over Adrian Fenty

Discussion: Ballot Box, PostPartisan, The Politico, TBD All News and The Page

Washington Post:
Gray defeats Fenty as voters choose conciliatory approach over brash tactics

Discussion: Dana Goldstein, The Daily Beast, Politics Daily, Post Now, Wonkette and Cato @ Liberty

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Senate Republicans unveil a plan to make Bush tax cuts permanent — Even as they hammer Democrats for running up record budget deficits, Senate Republicans are rolling out a plan to permanently extend an array of expiring tax breaks that would deprive the Treasury of more than $4 trillion …

Discussion: TPMDC, Democracy Corps, Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Wonk Room, The Hill, The Politico, The Washington Independent and Politics Daily

Ezra Klein: Putting the $3.9 trillion extension of the Bush tax cuts in context

Aharding / CNN:
Reid adds controversial immigration measure to defense bill

Discussion: The Note, The Politico, National Review, The Washington Independent, Questions and Observations, Wake up America and Ben Smith's Blog

NY Daily News:

Koran burner Derek Fenton fired from his job at NJ Transit — A radical who burned pages from the Koran outside a planned mosque near Ground Zero was fired from his job at NJ Transit, sources and authorities confirmed. — Derek Fenton, an 11-year employee at NJ Transit, was fired Monday …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, Jihad Watch, The Volokh Conspiracy, Atlas Shrugs, Weasel Zippers, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Right Pundits, Raw Story and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute: Waiting For The ACLU — Derek Fenton, a NJ Transit worker …

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Romney backs O'Donnell — Support for Christine O'Donnell appears to have emerged this morning as a kind of grassroots litmus test, and the Establishment is scrambling to pass it. — Mitt Romney just endorsed her, saying, “Now is the time for Republicans to rally behind their nominee, Christine O'Donnell.

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin.com